And angels came

And angels came

Scripture:

Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”

Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’”

Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him. Matthew 4:8-11

Observation:

This study, we now look at the third of Jesus’ great temptations, where the devil takes Him to a very high mountain and shows Him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. There, the devil offers to give Jesus all of these kingdoms if only the Lord would bow down and worship Him. Here, we learn one very important truth, that the devil has authority over all the kingdoms of this world and he has the power to give anyone great fame, riches, success if they would only follow him. Yet, as Jesus says later “What good is it if a man gains the whole world yet loses his soul?” Even the whole world is not worth it if we lose our salvation!

At this repulsive offer, Jesus commands the devil “Away from me, Satan, for it is written: Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.” And so the devil leaves Jesus, and angels come and attend the Lord. How comforting and precious it must have been to see the marvelous angels after that difficult time of temptation!

Application:

There are 3 main lessons we can learn from this passage. Firstly, we always need to have an eternal perspective of things. The world controlled by the devil may offer us great pleasure, fame and satisfaction in innumerable ways but we need to remember that our time on earth is short - so incredibly short compared to the timelessness of eternity that there is simply no comparison. Those words of Jesus – “What good is it for a man to gain the whole world yet lose his soul” need to remain fresh in our minds. The temptation to be drawn into the splendors of the world does not usually come directly but slowly, bit but bit, and if we are caught unawares, we find ourselves drawing closer and closer to it, like Lot and the city of Sodom.

Secondly, we must remember the great command to “Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only” Later, Paul writes, “whether you eat or drink, whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God”. Our whole lives, lived for the glory of God, can be worship unto God. This is what it means to be living sacrifices. Even office work is holy when committed to the Lord. Even simple actions like playing with our children or driving on the road can be done unto the Lord. It is a lifestyle that we can learn and let the Holy Spirit inculcate in us, an attitude of living daily for the glory of God.

Finally, we can be grateful to God for the angels that He sends to minister to us. We usually do not see them, but they are ministering spirits sent by God to those who will inherit salvation as stated in the Hebrews. We can pray to God to send His angels to bring peace and protection to our homes, our offices, to our cars when we drive. Angels are very powerful beings, and their presence makes a wonderful difference indeed.

Prayer:

Praise thee, O Father in Heaven, for Your great power and love. Even in this temporal place on earth, let Your presence and Spirit always be with me, to counsel me and guard me, that I may not be drawn to the wiles and temptations of the world which is under the control of Satan. Let me always have Your eternal perspective, knowing that this world and its desires will fade away. May my life be a living sacrifice to You O Lord. Day by day, let me learn to do all that I do for Your glory, even as Your Holy Spirit leads me. Let me worship and serve You alone always I pray. I thank You, Lord, for the mighty angels You send to serve us. Send forth Your angels we pray, to watch over us and our families at home, at work and on the road. Let Your angels be with our children at home and at school, at classes and at play. Let them guard our sleep, and protect us from evil. We will ever trust in You, dear Lord. In Jesus name, Amen.